A cooperative exploration of where we might take Jewish Education next

Thursday, December 30, 2010

An Open Special Education Contract

I have recently been invited to join a committee that is exploring how to make access to Jewish education a priority in congregational schools for learners with the whole array of disabilities. While I have always cared about the full spectrum of special needs in Jewish Education, I have to tip my kipah to my friend and teacher Rabbi Fred Greene of Temple Beth Tikvah in Roswell Georgia.Fred came to my congregation in CT straight out of rabbinic school and he really held my toes to the fire on this issue. It is so easy to concentrate on the needs of the many, but we are only as good as how we treat the few. And the lesson is not lost on anyone. I came across the blog Special Education {Tech} courtesy of someone I follow on twitter (I apologize for not giving credit).

This is from a blog entry by Chris Vacek, an educator whose bio follows the article. I think he presents an interesting and important challenge to us as educators. I am not yet certain his list is comprehensive or completely applicable in our settings, but I think it is the beginning point for an important conversation.

An Open Special Education Contract

Recently, I came across a classroom blog that struck a profound chord in me. It contained a teacher’s “manifesto”, with the promises the teacher made to his students. I love this idea, and thought about special education. I have never seen a Special Education Contract of that sort, and immediately started jotting down ideas. Then it occurred to me that this really needed to be an “open” project, and that I should seek the input of the special education world at large. If you are a special education professional, service provider, teacher or administrator, or a parent or advocate or a person with special needs, please contribute to this project. The items below are a beginning, and presented in no particular order, and I welcome your feedback and additions. I would love to see this grow and saturate the online special education community – so please share this with your friends, colleagues and contacts. Thanks!

I promise to do no harm.

I promise to individualize your education to the best of my abilities and resources.

I promise to focus on your outcomes, and to be able to explain what difference the current education program makes to your functional independence later in life.

I promise to listen to your parents, and work towards their goals, and yours.

I promise to champion your success, and value your failures.

I promise to promote your opportunity, and to seek opportunities for you to succeed.

I promise to educate myself, to help educate you.

I promise to use technology, and to help you use technology, so we can both succeed.

I promise to strengthen your skills, and use your strengths to further strengthen your weaknesses.

I promise to put your outcomes and needs first, and keep them close and centered, in your heart and mine.

I promise to gather data on all your outcomes, and to only use data-informed, peer-reviewed, scientifically established interventions that document measurable progress.

I promise to respect you and your wishes, always.

I promise to involve you in decisions about your future, as best I can and as you are able.

I promise to center your education around your needs today and your needs in the future.

I promise to help generalize your skills in the classroom, and the home, and the community.

I promise to use the most appropriate tools available for us to learn.

I promise to remember daily that you are a wonderful human being, and that data and statistics rarely tell the whole story of YOU.

I promise to help you fill your life with rich experiences in art, music, science, social studies, physical activity, etc… because reading and math are not more important than everything else. Everyone deserves to find his/her own passion.

I promise to introduce you to, and teach you how to interact with, your peers. You will need both friends like you and friends that are different from you, and you’ll need to know how to interact with them.

I promise not to think of you as data or outcomes, but to think of you as feelings and desires and wants and needs.

I promise to advocate for you, always, everywhere, even when my boss disagrees, or the community disagrees, or the world disagrees. I will advocate for you.

I promise to teach you how to help yourself, how to advocate for yourself, and how to become the most independent person you can be.

I promise to love you as my student and as a person, even when my life is tough, your life is tough, and our work together is tough.

I promise to value function over form.

I promise to continually work towards your independence.

I promise to educate others about how extraordinary you are.

I promise to say something nice or positive to you daily.

I promise to never try to make you fit into the world’s view of “perfect.” I will value you as “perfect” just the way you are.

I promise to help you speak for yourself.

I promise to help you stand tall.

I promise to remember that you are whole, just the way you are.|

I promise to do my best not to say or do anything unkind.

I promise to listen to your eyes.

I promise to laugh with you.

I promise to ensure that you get to take your rightful place in the world.

I promise to experience and celebrate you and your joy.

I promise to do more than see. I promise to be a keen observer.

I promise to not just say ” I hear you,” but to mean it with all my heart.

I promise to learn from you and use what I’ve learned to help you grow.

I promise that as hard as it may be to watch you fail, I know that “there is dignity in risk” and realize that sometimes you will fail before you succeed.

I promise to facilitate your independence needs, and seek transparency and clarity for all in this process.

What promises would you make to your particular, and every other, special education student?

About the author

Chris Vacek is the Chief Innovation Officer for Heartspring and the parent of a child with both Williams Syndrome and Autism. Heartspring, located in Wichita, Kansas, is a world wide center for children with disabilities, and a leader in technology based functional independence outcomes.

3 comments:

First, thanks for the note in your intro. that was very kind. I liked this Contract a whole lot. I think it is very worthwhile, beause while I see folks committed to special education, this writer raises issues that our professionals forget -- about the family.

How do we tweak this for us in our Jewish community? How about adding:

I promise to recognize that you are created in God's image.I promise to remember that you have spiritual questions and needs, too.I promise to make the Jewish community inclusive, otherwise it isn't Jewish.

As a parent of a child with special needs, I often think about the greater purpose in the explosion of incidence, diagnosis, and awareness of special needs. My conclusion is that our children exist to bring greater compassion into the world. With the profound innocence many of this population exhibit, it has the feel of an evolutionary development that can, in the end, better all humanity.